Travel: Wakayama is Japan’s best-kept secret

Overshadowed by the neighboring city of Osaka, this humble Japanese prefecture is home to arguably Japan’s most delicious ramen, a 1,700-year-old fire festival and a giant open-air bath fed by a hot spring.

You’ll find much of what you need for the complete Japanese experience on this little crescent of land on the southern coast of the country’s largest island, Honshu.

Saki-no-yu in Shirahama, south of Wakayama, is a public bath right on the shore of the Pacific.

Here are 11 ways to begin to get to know this little Japanese secret.

1.Eat Japan’s most delicious ramen

Ever since Ide Shoten’s Wakayama ramen was voted “Japan’s most delicious” by a Japanese food show, this humble noodle shop has become sacred ground for ramen lovers.

Wakayama ramen has a unique soup base, made with an extremely savory pork bone and soy sauce broth.

But it’s generally known to locals as chuka soba — not ramen — which means “Chinese noodles” in Japanese. These steaming bowls of soup with their satisfying pork and lard flavor can fast become an addiction. Read More